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“If I told you before the others it will seem like favoritism.”
“Fair enough.” He motioned toward the corridor. “Our ship has an observation platform that will give you an unobstructed view of the moon. We thought it would be less distracting than the command deck.”
Draven didn’t look pleased by the decision. “I’m familiar with the ship’s layout. The observation platform will leave us completely exposed.” He walked at Merrik’s side, so Noratu walked beside Flora.
Merrik smiled, apparently having anticipated the objection. “We have a class of trainees aboard. They will serve as lookouts, and bodyguards if the need arises, which I don’t believe it will.”
After a tense pause, Draven asked, “Is Cylex among the trainees?”
The question surprised Merrik. “He is. Why do you ask?”
Now Draven seemed confused. “Of all the trainees we assessed, Cylex was by far the most impressive. Has he not lived up to his potential?”
“His performance has been mediocre at best. There is nothing impressive about him.”
Draven and Noratu exchanged disbelieving looks.
Why would he hide his true abilities?Noratu responded to Draven’s confusion.
We need to find out, Draven agreed.
“Is he holding out on us?” Merrik correctly read their expressions.
“We believe so,” Draven told him. “Don’t confront him. I’d rather see if I can figure out why he’s doing it.”
“You’re the governor.” Merrik grinned, clearly amused by the development.
“How well do you guys know each other?” Flora asked as they reached a wider hallway.
“We went through training together,” Merrik told her.
“Different mentors, but we were at the Citadel at the same time,” Noratu clarified.
“I had already completed my training, but had yet to move out,” Draven added.
They took an elevator to the top level or deck of the ship. She was still working on all the terminology. The main corridor ran perpendicular to the one leading to the observation platform. Merrik scanned open the door, but motioned for them to enter without him. “Your ident-codes are activated in our system so the computer will respond to your voice commands. If you need anything, just comm me. The trainees will join you shortly. Feel free to boss them around.”
Flora stepped out onto the observation platform and felt her jaw drop halfway to her chest. There were no walls of any kind, just the floor on which she stood. A transparent dome or some sort of force field held out the vacuum of space and her gaze was immediately drawn to the planets in the distance. Stripes of orange and green identified Altor, but Flora had never seen the other planets. They appeared smaller, which likely meant they were farther away. One was barely visible and its features were shadowed by its angle to the system’s star. The other planet was primarily blue. But Flora didn’t see any greens or browns indicating land. She didn’t see any other colors at all, in fact.
She was so captivated by the beauty that her mind didn’t register the impossibility of the view. “Aren’t we still in hyperspace?” she asked Noratu.
“We are.”
“Then what am I looking at?”
“A projection, an image from the ship’s media library,” he explained.
“Is that Torret?” Her voice was hushed, almost reverent as she gazed out at the overwhelming beauty.
Noratu stepped up beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist. “It is.”
She looked up at him but he offered nothing else. “I know the planet is mostly water, but are there no land masses at all?”
“There are a few. Most of the cities either float or access the seafloor for stability.”
Flora tried to imagine what that would look like, but the closest she came was Florence, Italy and that really wasn’t the same. “It is too bad we are at war. I would love to see a floating city.”
“There are a couple of immersive tours in my media library at home. I’ll take you through one or both if you like.”
